OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 24 MACU women's basketball team will officially wrap-up the 2022-23 regular season this weekend as the Evangels will travel to Siloam Springs, Ark. on Thursday for a 6 p.m. tip-off at John Brown inside Bill George Arena before hosting Oklahoma City on Senior Day. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center and the Evangels will honor their four graduating seniors at the conclusion of the contest.
 
MACU SEASON REPORT

• Record: 22-4 (16-4 SAC)
• Last Game: Won vs. SW Assemblies of God (Texas) – 84-64 – Feb. 11, 2023 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Stat Leaders:
  • Points: Shy Christopher (439, 18.3 ppg), Jaci Littell (384, 16.7 ppg), Whitney Outon (248, 10.3 ppg)
  • FG% (Min. 3 FGM/G): Shy Christopher (48.3, 160-331), Whitney Outon (46.4, 91-196), Jaci Littell (40.6, 112-276)
  • 3FG% (Min. 1 3FGM/G): Jaci Littell (44.1, 63-143), Kyleigh Leverich (38.3, 31-81), Whitney Outon (35.3, 24-68)
  • FT% (Min. 2 FTM/G): Jaci Littell (83.6, 97-116), Alexis Borgstadt (80.0, 52-65), Shy Christopher (72.5, 108-149)
  • Reb: Whitney Outon (172, 7.2 rpg), Shy Christopher (132, 5.5 rpg), Sydney Wycoff (112, 4.7 rpg)
  • Assists: Sydney Wycoff (83, 3.5 apg), Kyleigh Leverich (57, 2.4 apg), Shy Christopher (53, 2.2 apg)
  • Steals: Jaci Littell (38, 1.7 spg), Sydney Wycoff (36, 1.5 spg), Tyaija Coleman (26, 1.1 spg)
  • Blocks: Whitney Outon (24, 1.0 bpg), Ashley Hopper (15, 0.7 bpg)
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian overcame a slow start against Southwestern Assemblies of God as the Evangels trailed by two after one quarter of play and held just a three-point advantage going into the halftime break. However, the Evangels made some strong adjustments, outscoring the Lady Lions 49-32 in the second half to run away with the 84-64 win.
  • For the first time this season, neither Shy Christopher nor Jaci Littell led the MACU scoring efforts as Aneli Thomsen tied a career-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including a career-best 5-for-7 from three-point range.
  • Shy Christopher notched first career double-double in the win, scoring 17 points on 7-for-14 from the floor to go with a career-best 10 boards.
  • By notching the victory, MACU sealed at least one of the top three spots in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament as the Evangels currently sit in a tie for second with No. 19 Science & Arts with an 18-4 league mark.
  • On Saturday, Mid-America Christian will honor its four graduating seniors at the conclusion of the game: Kyleigh Leverich, Whitney Outon, Aneli Thomsen and Sydney Wycoff.

SCOUTING REPORT
John Brown (Ark.)

• Record: 19-7 (13-7 SAC)
• Last Game: Won vs. Oklahoma City – 92-71 – Feb. 14, 2023 – Siloam Springs, Ark.
• Series vs. MACU (2006-): JBU leads 18-16
• Last Game vs. MACU: MACU won 71-60 – Jan. 12, 2023 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Players to Watch:
  • Tarrah Stephens – SR – F
    • 506 Points (19.5 ppg), 191-365 FG (52.3%), 110-153 FT (71.9%), 194 Reb (7.5 rpg), 51 Assists (2.0 apg), 48 Steals (1.8 spg), 29 Blocks (1.1 bpg)
  • Natalie Smith – JR – G
    • 284 Points (10.9 ppg), 100-253 FG (39.5%), 70-185 3FG (37.8%), 91 Reb (3.5 rpg), 74 Assists (2.8 apg), 27 Steals (1.0 spg)
  • Emily Sanders – SO – G
    • 265 Points (10.2 ppg), 94-205 FG (45.9%), 50-129 3FG (38.8%), 27-32 FT (84.4%), 140 Reb (5.4 rpg), 79 Assists (3.0 apg), 27 Steals (1.0 spg), 13 Blocks (0.5 bpg)
• Team Notes:
  • John Brown comes into the contest as one of the hottest teams in the SAC, winning seven of its last eight games. The Golden Eagles are currently in a tough stretch of its conference slate, playing six games over the last two weeks to close out the regular season.
  • The Golden Eagles enter the contest as the best scoring defense in the league, allowing just 56.9 points per game on the lowest field goal percentage (34.6) as well as the second-best three-point clip (26.5).
  • JBU is led by the league's leading scorer in Tarrah Stephens, who comes in scoring 19.5 ppg on the fourth-best field goal clip in the SAC at 52.3 and is also the only player in the conference ranking in the top five in both scoring and rebounding at 7.5 boards per game (5^th).
  • The Evangels will also need to focus on junior guard Natalie Smith, who has been a red-hot scorer for the Golden Eagles over the last month as she has scored in double-figures in seven of the last eight games and was named the SAC Player of the Week last week. After scoring a career-high 31 points at SAGU, Smith led JBU in their win over the Stars, going 8-for-10 from downtown for a game-high 24 points.
  • Even though JBU leads the all-time series, Mid-America Christian has fared well recently against the Golden Eagles, winning 12 of the last 17 meetings since the 2014-15 season. However, MACU will be looking to avenge a loss to John Brown the last time it played at Bill George Arena as the Evangels suffered a costly 75-58 defeat on Feb. 12, 2022. In their earlier season meeting, MACU dominated JBU as the Evangels led by as much as 21 in the fourth quarter before holding off a late rally for a 71-60 victory on Jan. 12, 2023.

Oklahoma City

• Record: 12-13 (9-11 SAC)
• Last Game: Lost at John Brown (Ark.) – 92-71 – Feb. 14, 2023 – Siloam Springs, Ark.
• Series vs. MACU (2007-): OCU leads 31-3
• Last Game vs. MACU: OCU won 73-71 – Jan. 14, 2023 – El Reno, Okla.
• Players to Watch:
  • Annila Dawn – SR – G
    • 358 Points (14.3 ppg), 115-325 FG (35.4%), 63-192 3FG (32.8%), 65-91 FT (71.4%), 98 Reb (3.9 rpg), 81 Assists (3.2 apg), 38 Steals (1.5 spg)
  • Fiona Wilson – SR – F
    • 342 Points (13.7 ppg), 112-300 FG (37.3%), 44-140 3FG (31.4%), 74-104 FT (71.2%), 159 Reb (6.4 rpg), 37 Assists (1.5 apg), 34 Steals (1.4 spg), 12 Blocks (0.5 bpg)
  • Amaya Gordon – JR – G
    • 264 Points (10.6 ppg), 112-260 FG (43.1%), 40-61 FT (65.6%), 163 Reb (6.5 rpg), 59 Assists (2.4 apg), 39 Steals (1.6 spg), 20 Blocks (0.8 bpg)
• Team Notes:
  • Oklahoma City struggled to slow down the blistering hot three-point shooting of John Brown on Tuesday as the Stars suffered a 92-71 defeat in Siloam Springs, Ark. The loss was a costly one for OCU as it has now fallen into a tie for seventh in the league standings with Langston, holding just a game lead over UNT-Dallas with two games remaining.
  • The Stars are in the middle of the SAC pack in scoring offense, ranking seventh in scoring at 69.4 ppg and while OCU is one of the better three-point shooting teams at 31.2 percent (4th), the Stars have struggled from the line, converting just 67.6 percent of their attempts (67.6).
  • Overall, OCU is balanced across the board in its scoring efforts with five players averaging seven or more points per game, led by senior guard Annila Dawn, who is averaging 14.3 ppg, but is shooting just 35.4 percent from the floor and 32.8 percent from three-point range.
  • Mid-America Christian will be looking to bounce back from a heartbreaking 73-71 loss to the Stars on back on Jan. 14 at Redland Community College in El Reno. However, that loss was the catalyst to the Evangels mid-season turnaround as MACU has won nine straight games since that defeat.